This invention relates to a method and apparatus for making designer diseases. In particular, it relates to a method in which microbes are evolved to attack target cells but not non-target cells, and to an apparatus for performing that method.
Many plants, animals, and bacteria are undesirable or even dangerous, yet are difficult to destroy without injuring other nearby life forms. This is particularly true when the undesirable life form is closely related to the desirable life form. In that case, a biocide that attacks the undesirable life form may also kill, or at least harm, the closely related desirable life form.
A designer disease is a man-made disease that attacks particular life forms (targets) while being relatively innocuous towards other life forms (non-targets).
I have discovered a method and apparatus for making designer diseases. In this invention, microbes evolve until they attack cells of a target population, but do not attack cells of a non-target population, even when the non-target population is closely related to the target population. The method of this invention does not require complicated, expensive, or elaborate equipment.